Salt and Sanctuary: Derelict Flotsam
by LukeTheSpookDuke
Summary: After Finito escaped the island he thought he would never face such trouble again, but now with a new job being given to him by request of the Askarian king he must face new challenges as he meets a beautiful woman while on a ship heading for Tristin. The two then begin facing the treacherous world together as things only seen on The Island begin to appear on the continents.


He had done it. He had defeated the Nameless God that had controlled that island purgatory and on the way out he destroyed it's scarecrow for good measure. He had freed all souls trapped there in the process. Now all that was left was to return to life as normal, but one does not simply do that after experiencing such horrors. After he had reached the surface of there was a ship passing by him. He had nearly drowned while being saved, all because he was clutching two scythes. It was a miracle that he could keep afloat. The ship would take him to Askaria, his home. He had always just been an orphaned noble's child. But once he had escaped the island he was a hardened fighter. He would use what wealth he had to build himself a busness. "Blade for Hire. Man, Monster, or Otherwise" the sign would read. It would be a quaint building in a slum of an Askarian coast town. This is where our story begins.

* * *

He sat in the basement of his home, or rather, his room. The walls where made of stone in order to help keep the above structure from caving in. He sat at oak wood desk reading a story about Sir Francis the Resolute. The martyred hero of Tristin who would later arise on The Island as the Sodden Knight. Finito thought back to his battle with the beast. He had a simple sword, but he defeated him with the crafty use of grenados. There was a knock up stairs so Finito marked his place in the book and climbed up a small set of stairs and out of an open trapdoor that led behind a counter like that at a store. He sat down in the chair behind the counter and shouted at the door.

"Come in." The door opened and a man wearing a cloak and cowl that covered his face walked in and inspected the inside of the building. There was a wooden board on the wall that had information pinned to it, and there was a table with a few seats surrounding it.

"Please, pull up a chair." Finito said, which prompted the man to pull a chair up to the counter and sit down. He stared Finito down. He was a young man of fair complexion. He had messy auburn hair and a detached expression on his face. He wore a black tailcoat along with gloves and a pair of black slacks.

"You run this place? You barely look old enough to wield a sword." The man said in a deep voice. Finito sighed and slammed his hand against the wall behind him, leaving a hold the size of his fist. The man jumped up in surprise at the noise.

"I guess it's a good thing I use a scythe then. Now are you here to talk business or not?" Finito asked, annoyed. The man sat back down and reached in his cloak pulling out a letter and setting it on the table. Finito picked the letter up and opened it. It was a set of orders for him to assist in overseeing the release of Tristin prisoners of war back to their people in exchange for Askarian prisoners. He sighed and crumpled the letter up before throwing it across the room.

"I have no intent on joining in on this damned meaningless war." He said, getting up to walk down back down the stairs to his room.

The man stood up and grabbed his arm. "Wait. The pay is high. If you refuse you risk being thrown into The Red Hall for treason." Finito stopped. All he wanted to do was live his own life free of such things as kings and wars. He sighed and turned to the man.

"When do I start?" He asked. The man let go of him and went to retrieve the letter. He handed it to Finito and it had all the information for where he should go and who to present the letter to. The man then left the building. Finito then realized something.

This would be the first time he had been on a ship since he was saved from drowning. It would also be the same trip he took before he ended up on The Island. He shook the thought from his head. Now if anything arose he could handle it. He had slain gods! He returned down to his room and began preparing for his journey.


End file.
